Messy Tester's Feedback

Aiko was produced in response to requests for various shades of transparent teals. Aiko bears some similarity to Effetre transparent teal.

It’s very similar indeed to Effetre transparent Light Teal 026 but I’d say Aiko is just a very tiny bit more saturated and a micro-smidge bluer. – Laura Sparling

Aiko is pretty much identical to its Effetre counterpart [I held them up side by side and couldn't tell them apart!] – Trudi Doherty

Aiko is quite similar to Effetre 591026 "light teal", however, Aiko is a touch more blue, and is beautifully vibrant and saturated. It didn't boil at all, unlike some of the other Italian teals do. – Renee Wiggins

Aiko is a new color to the 104 palette. It is a bit greener / darker turquoise than some of the colors I tested it against, with the exceptions of Tuscan Teal and Dark Teal. – Paula Schertz

Here I've sandwiched Aiko between Serenity and Light Teal. You can see that it is only very slightly darker than Effetre Light Teal and a bit lighter and quite a bit greener than Serenity. Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

Special thanks to Pati Walton, Heather Sellers & Melanie Graham for providing the photos in this section.

"This bead has surface treatments of several silver glasses including Double Helix glasses including Kronos 2, Skiron and Aether in powders and shards. The bead was completed with a generous wrap of fine silver wire. The spacers are CiM's Aiko." Read more at Darlene's blog.

"Aiko is a light teal transparent colour, very similar in hue to Effetre Light Teal. It's a bit stiffer than Light Teal, and I found it easier to boil than Light Teal until I got the hang of giving it a bit less heat than my normal. After doing these tests, I would choose Light Teal Transparent over this colour if I were going to be encasing with it, but if I was planning to use it with Silver or with other colours in combinations where I wanted to minimize any angry reactions, then I would definitely go with Aiko instead." Read more at Melanie's blog.

"Aiko is a vivid transparent teal green that melts smoothly and has a depth of tone and does not bubble or boil. This focal bead was combined with Double Helix Psyche silver glass frit and 99% fine silver wire and encased to capture the glittery goodness!" Read more at Darlene's blog.

"This first set of beads have been made with a core of Aiko encased with Effetre clear glass. I then used a diamond saw blade to take little nibbles out of the surface of the beads and tumble etched them for a couple of hours to give them a matt finish. . . . Aiko does not scum or bubble even when worked quite hot." Read more at Kitzbitz Art Glass' blog.

"Aiko melted smoothly with no shockiness or bubbles. It works excellent alone or as a base color. It tested great as a frit base. Aiko as a base for the stipple stitch with Triton stringers was gorgeous. I look forward to trying it as a base with more silver glass stringers and with more frits."

"A beautiful watery green-leaning teal that melts beautifully. It didn't boil at all, unlike some of the other Italian teals do. It is not a color that compares to CiM's other teals as it's quite a bit more green than say, Poolside or Aegean."

"Aiko is a teal green. Aiko is a lot stiffer than Effetre Light Teal but it melted very nicely and I had no issues with scumming. These beads have a core of CiM Dirty Martini which is encased in a heavy layer of Aiko, and the decoration and spacers are CiM Harvest. The photographs were taken indoors in natural daylight." Read more at Laura's tumblr.

"Aiko is a vivid transparent teal. The glass is clean and crisp without bubbles or hazing. When paired with silvered ivory shards, the edge feathers slightly for a soft transition. Aiko is a dream to press and only needed a light flamepolish to remove tool marks which is uncommon for transparent glass. When adding murrini, the accepting glass allowed for quick absorption with only minimal heating. No shocking or bubbling occurred during testing."

"Aiko is a new transparent light teal from CiM. I do love greens, and this is one of my favourite shades, and it complements other greens in the CiM family. It melts beautifully in the flame, with no issues at all. In the picture the spacers are both Aiko, and the hearts are Aiko with a metallic green decoration!"